OccupyLA still occupying despite deadline

Ten hours past a deadline to leave their encampment at Los Angeles City Hall, the OccupyLA movement remains firmly entrenched at the scene where it has held court for nearly two months.

Protesters had yet to be cleared from the site as of 10 a.m. Monday, and news reports quoted Los Angeles Police Department officials as saying they would clear the city hall grounds “when it was safe.”

Demonstrations took place along streets in and around city hall Monday, but they appeared to clog only those streets and did not create traffic havoc further out or on freeways leading to L.A.’s downtown region. A handful of arrests were made when a few protesters refused to disperse and leave the scene.

A demonstration by students also was scheduled to take place at the UCLA campus in sympathy of the OccupyLA and Occupy Wall Street movements later on Monday, and it was to occur around the time the University of California regents were meeting at the Westwood facility.